Education

Early education centers and family day care homes in Massachusetts will need an infusion of $690 million over the next five months to successfully reopen and recover from the shutdown caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, according to a new report.

Nichols College in Dudley will resume on-campus classes beginning Aug. 26, the school announced on Tuesday, joining an increasing number of Central Massachusetts colleges and universities planning to do the same.

Some public colleges and universities in Massachusetts face the risk of cash shortfalls in the coming fiscal year, and the sector as a whole is expected to grapple with longer-term financial challenges from the COVID-19 pandemic, according to an analysis presented Tuesday to the Board of Higher Education.

In an effort to reduce redundancy between classes taken at the high school and college level, Fitchburg State University said Monday it will now allow students from Montachusett Regional Vocational Technical High School in Fitchburg to transfer up to six credits to replace a foundation education class at the college.

State university campuses in Fitchburg, Framingham, Worcester and others across Massachusetts plan to hold classes in person this fall, they jointly announced late Thursday.

Becker College in Worcester has been selected to join the inaugural cohort of First Scholars Network institutions, a group working for first-generation college students.

A trio of researchers at UMass Medical School in Worcester are attacking the coronavirus pandemic from three different angles, as part of a $17-million Massachusetts effort to help the world combat the disease which has killed more than 400,000 people globally.

Robert Johnson, the former president of Becker College in Worcester, will join Western New England University as its new president.

College of the Holy Cross will hold classes on campus this fall but will finish the semester remotely after Thanksgiving, President Philip Boroughs announced Friday.

Mass Dartmouth Chancellor Robert Johnson, the first African-American chancellor at that school, will resign effective Sept. 4, following a three-year tenure, and is moving on to a role where he believes he can make greater contributions.